The present device relates to natural gas conduits. In particular, it relates to a method of providing a transportable line pipe and distribution hose supply crossing assembly for use in supplying natural gas fueled drilling rig engines or fracking equipment with natural gas, electricity and pressurized air from mobile storage and vaporization facilities.
A drilling rig is an assembly for boring holes in the ground. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill water wells, oil wells, or natural gas extraction wells. Drilling rigs can be designed as transportable mobile equipment to be mounted on trucks, tracks or trailers. Transportable drilling rigs had been predominantly diesel fueled to provide mobility, in as early as 2010 certain energy groups had worked together to repower diesel fueled drilling rigs with natural gas dedicated engines. In the absence of field gas, natural gas proved to be the most widely accepted practical fuel solution, while further providing advantages in cost savings, but with diesel-like mobility and useful with onsite fuel reserves.
To this end, natural gas fueled drilling rig technology has gained wide acceptance in the industry. Moreover, certain leaders in the industry have further designed, built and commissioned natural gas mobile facilities, including mobile storage and vaporization trailers and pipeline components, to provide the natural gas fuel to the natural gas fueled engines, on site. In this manner, it is now well accepted practice to run drilling rigs entirely on natural gas, and to thereby realize a significant savings in fuel cost, over the former practice of using diesel fuel while also reducing NOx and particulate emissions by as much as 25%. Further, it is also possible to utilize natural gas facilities in combination with fracking equipment.
Polymer piping is used to connect the natural gas fueled engines and the natural gas mobile storage and vaporization equipment. The presently accepted practice, in the industry, is to assemble and run a 7.62 cm diameter poly pipe structure from the natural gas mobile storage and vaporization equipment supply trailer to the drilling rig. In addition, a 2.54 cm purge line is also commonly used to purge the air out of the system, prior to start up. Trenches must be excavated using special equipment and contractors for placement of the polymer pipe on the ground in those road crossings where the Operators find it necessary to transport machines and heavy equipment over the piping.
Operators also often find it desirable to run a compressed air line and electric power cables in the trenches along with the pipeline. Over time, operators began laying thick steel plates over the trenches to keep the polymer pipeline from being crushed or damaged.
In practice, it has been learned that certain problems exist with the foregoing methods for supplying natural gas to a drilling rig. For example, specially trained crews and equipment must be scheduled to arrive at the rig in order to dig the trench, and to weld the sections of polymer pipe in construction of the pipeline. Certain permits have to be obtained for trench excavation which often results in a delay. Often times, natural gas fueled rigs could not start operation, at a new location, when the trenching crews were scheduled for work elsewhere. The adhesive welds would also fail during operation and, with heavy equipment moving over the line, even the buried pipes would become either crushed or damaged. In the winter months, operators also experienced problems with water freezing in the trench, and the frozen ground is difficult to trench. Crews have also found it difficult to remove the lines from the frozen ground. Moreover, this approach drives up the cost in moving and assembly of a rig to a new location, the polymer pipeline was only good for one drilling location, and trenching machines were often very unreliable during the winter months.
The current method provides for a transportable reusable natural gas pipeline that is capable of making connection over crossings and between the natural gas mobile storage and vaporization trailers and the natural gas fueled engines, without a need for special permits, crews or equipment for trenching.